senior horses---

If she's dropping feed, I'd say absolutely. My mare's were really bad, I could barely stand to watch her eat. I live in a really rural area and no vets  here float teeth, particularly if they're fairly severe. So I had to track down an equine dentist (I called the county extension agent) and bless his heart, he came out on Christmas Eve. She had started losing weight at an alarmning rate, her gut looked gaunt, I could SEE she wasn't getting much food into her, and she wasn't chewing what she did consume so she couldn't have been getting much out of it. I was soaking it at that time. She also started chewing all my fences at this time, and she choked and went down TWICE, the two times I fed hay. I bought a silicone hose in case I needed to intubate her, but I quit feeding hay period and that took care of that. I was completely desperate..this horse is my darling and one I won't ever sell or get rid of, and I could see years of nursing her along, watching her go downhill, never being able to do anything with her, it was awful.
 
The dentist ground them ALL. Her front lower molars came up to a point in the front, so the back ones didn't meet at all. He evened out her front teeth as well. He spent about an hour in her mouth (I have pictures!) No rotten or broken teeth, thankfully, because I guess once they have to pull a tooth it's a constant battle to keep the mouth maintained because the tooth that's supposed to meet it in the mouth will grow up into the space and won't wear off, so it has to be regularly filed down.
 
After he did her, it took her a couple of days to get used to her new mouth. She continued to drop food, but she quit tossing her head while eating, and I'm sure her mouth was sore. But since then she has gained back all the weight she lost (and then some. And then quite a bit, actually). She still dribbles a little feed out of her mouth, it's not really an exact science I don't think, but if I were  you I'd definitely have your horse's teeth checked. It cost me $185, which is steep, but the guy was good and he took  his time and did it properly. I'll have him back again in the summer or spring to do my other old lady and to check up on the Arab, then after that we can just do it once a year.
 
Till then soak the heck out of your feed and do try the cracked corn. The nice thing about it is it's already ground up, so even if they can't chew properly, they can still digest it, and it will put weight on. But be prepared because your previously docile horses will start acting like wild things, lol. She'll be leaping around and running and in general acting like a goofball. Corn's a HIGH ENERGY food, lol.

Oh and get this..when I told the friend who brought her to me (the horse was from an Arab herd whose owner is very ill) she told  me, "Oh it's good you floated her teeth, she's needed it done for years."
 
????? Well THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW! Lol.

as of right now i am trying to get the vet out the do her! she still eats all her food but drops a LOT of it.. I hope this helps with the weight.

[quote=mm07_meg]

as of right now i am trying to get the vet out the do her! she still eats all her food but drops a LOT of it.. I hope this helps with the weight.


Has the vet come? What did he/she say?
 
My mare had her teeth floated, she needed it badly. She still ate fairly gingerly, he said that was to be expected because her jaw would be sore, both from being floated (they hold their mouths open with a...thing...I don't know, a jaw spreader thing....for quite a while) and from using her muscles differently as they eat.
 
She started putting on weight immediately..it started with the gaunt look going away from her flanks, then she started acquiring fat. She still drops feed, but just in dribbles. But she'd needed it done for a long time. I'll have him out again this spring, and thereafter probably just once a year.
 
I hope so. It's $185 a pop, and I have two horses (both will have it done next time). He travels more than a hundred miles to do it, though. He said he goes all over the country.

I'm not seeing where you list this horse's age in the thread.  If' I've missed it, please forgive me.